Volkswagen

Those wondering when the Volkswagen Polo R will be launched, we have the scoop — sometime in 2010. Adding to the whole R-series that include the Golf R and the Scirocco R models, the new VW Polo R will have a 1.6 liter turbocharged petrol/gasoline engine that sports some 210 bhp, but unlike the Golf … there’s no sign of an AWD system since it will be built on the current PQ25 platform which doesn’t allow it. No word of an exact release date or prices, but it should be north of what the new Polo GTI will sell for when it will be available in Europe this summer — some £18,000/€20,000. Worth it folks?

For those who love the current Polo, but want their ride to be a bit larger, we’re hearing that 2012 Volkswagen Polo sedan (also known as the new VW Vento) is in the works — and we managed to get our hands on a design sketch for you. Basically a Polo with a trunk instead of a hatch, the Volkswagen Polo sedan has a 50mm longer wheelbase, and as expected, much more legroom in the rear seat. While yet to be confirmed, word is that the Polo sedan will run on a 1.2-liter TSI, a 1.6-liter TDI, and naturally-aspirated 1.2- and 1.4-liter units. The nice surprise is that other than the five and six-speed manual transmission, there’s also a seven speed DSG to play with. Availability in India is set for sometime in July.

Volkswagen is using some brains to ensure that the upcoming multi-media platform in VW cars will be a certain success. VW has announced an open innovation contest dubbed the ‘App My Ride’ where it is going to challenge developers to create new software applications for its multi-media platform.

As there are €14,000 in cash and non-cash prizes available, VW can be rest assured of some stunning entries which is definitely going to help the brand in the longer run. This ‘App My Ride’ project draws inspiration from the booming Smartphone industry which is well assisted by amazing applications. What is great is that there is a separate prize for student participants so even the fresh talent is not being ignored by VW. [via devicemag]

The New York International Auto Show came as a pleasant occasion for VW as the Polo was named the 2010 car of the year out of three finalists that was announced last month. A total of 30 cars were selected for the award and later the competition was scaled down to three contenders after careful adjudication of all 30 automobiles.

The other two finalists challenging the Polo were Mercedes Benz E Class and the Toyota Prius. The mandatory conditions for the cars to be nominated included sales in at least two continents in the year 2009 and a minimum of 500 units of each nominated vehicle produced in 2009.

As per one of the jury members, the VW Polo MkV is one of the classiest small VWs ever been built. The winner even achieved 5-star Euro NCAP crash-test rating. Chevrolet Camaro also managed to bag the World Car Design of the Year prize while the entire Volkswagen BlueMotion lineup was awarded the World Green Car of the Year.

If you were about to make the mistake’ of buying the current generation VW Beetle, hold it right there! As per Autocar, the next generation VW Beetle arrival is on the cards and it may hit the market as early as 2011 after its LA Auto Show debut in November this year. Excitingly, the next edition could come with a 2.0-liter engine producing 210 bhp, making it the most powerful engine ever to bless the Beetle.

More to it, the US fanatics could get their hands on a 5 cylinder 2.5L model capable of churning 170bhp. Rumors are also ripe about a hybrid variant, but that remains yet to be detailed. The next edition will share some traits from the VW Ragster (Ragtop+Speedster) concept, especially the roofing, though the iconic features such as the rounded lights and wheel wings will remain unaltered.

I suppose its a sad day when the addition of LED’s to golfs become newsworthy, but news on the automotive front have been a bit dull this week.

Anyway, for those who care the new Golf R is going to have LED taillights like the ones pictured above offered as standard and the GTI and GTD will have it offered as a R3500 option. Why can’t they just include it in the price and add it anyway? Well they’ll make more money this way is the obvious answer.

The benefits of using LED’s are they last longer and illuminate quicker – 0.2 seconds quicker than conventional bulbs in fact.

All this means that people will see you hitting the brakes a fifth of a second quicker, shaving a full 5 meters off the braking distance from 100km/h.

Straight from the halls of the Los Angeles Motor Show, German car maker Volkswagen has announced that their new Up! Lite concept vehicle is actually the world’s most fuel-efficient car. Running on a mix between 2-cylinder 0.8-litre TDI engine that outputs 51hp and a electric motor working drawing its energy from a lithium-ion battery, putting out 14 hp more, the new Volkswagen Up! Lite Concept is capable of doing 100km with only 2.44 liters of fuel. But on top of being green, the Up! Lite vehicle also manages to achieve a max speed of 160km/h and goes naught to 100km/h in only 12.5 seconds — the lightweight aluminum, carbon fiber and steel body, helps it out, too. On the exterior the concept car gets the eye with its 18″ wheels and LED daytime running lights, while on the inside there’s a 5.7-inch touch screen, an MP3 player, Internet connection and a telephone. What else you want?

It’s official – Porsche will offer the Panamera with a hybrid drivetrain. The company confirmed the at the LA Autoshow.

The vehicle will most likely go on on sale in 2011 and will probably not be offered in 4wd guise. Lots of rumours are floating around regarding which system will be used, but the general consensus is that it will not be using the system we’ve seen on the Cayenne.

If all today’s hybrid announcements are anything to go by Porsche will have a host of electric spares to choose from when it raids the VW group’s electric/ hybrid parts bin.